Across the Boundaries of Time
by princessvix
Summary: It's been eight years since the forming of the Baby-Sitters Club, and six since their breakup. Now, the ten friends are scattered across the country, doing their own things. Half of them don't even speak to each other anymore.
1. Visiting the Past

Based on a BSC dream I had a long time ago. It's 7 years later. The BSC has split up for college, and aren't in touch anymore. Karen's run away, and Kristy needs help from her friends to cope.   
  
  
  
"What do you mean she's not in her room?" Elizabeth Brewer had answered the phone with an exhasperated look, giving Kristy Thomas the signal that it was her mother's ex-husband, Watson. Her expression had quickly changed to one of concern, and Kristy became worried.  
  
Kristy listened carefully as her mother spoke on the phone. She sat at the kitchen table, chewing in curiousity on her pizza as her mother stood in the doorway, talking. Her sixteen year-old brother, David Michael, known as Dave by his peers, sat across from her. Suddenly the scene brought back a memory; quick and somewhat painful. Eight years ago, the setting in the Thomas household was strikingly similar. They'd been in the old house, then, back on Bradford Court. Kristy could have looked out her bedroom window into that of Mary Anne Spier's, her best friend, or dashed across the street to see Claudia Kishi, another friend of theirs. That particular day, Kristy's mother was trying to find a baby-sitter for Dave, and Kristy, her brothers Sam and Charlie, and David Michael's usual baby-sitter were all busy. Her mother spent hours on the phone, searching desperately for a sitter. That's when the idea first hit her. Wouldn't it be great if her Mom could call one number, and reach a whole network of baby-sitters?  
  
That was the birth of the Baby-Sitters Club. Kristy, Mary Anne, and Claudia banned together, along with Claudia's new friend Stacey McGill, and Kristy's dream was formed. Then Dawn Schafer had moved in from California, and with some hesitancy on Kristy's part, they'd made her part of the group. Then Stacey's father got transferred back to New York, and Stacey had to move. In order to replace her, the others had taken on two junior members, Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey. When Kristy's mother had married Watson, they'd moved across town, and Kristy had met Shannon Kilbourne, another sitter, who soon became an associate member of the club, as did Mary Anne's boyfriend, Logan Bruno. It wasn't long before Stacey's parents had divorced, and Stacey returned, and then, Dawn announced she was moving, surprising them all. To replace Dawn, they brought in Kristy's new neighbor Abby Stevenson, and that was the Baby-Sitters Club, or the BSC as it became known.  
  
But that was back in seventh and eighth grade. Soon the girls began high school, and then college, and slowly over the years, they'd began to tear apart, little by little. Mallory transferred to boarding school, and didn't have time for the BSC during the summer. When all the others graduated to high school, leaving Jessi at Soneybrook Middle, a divide was drawn between them. Jessi started attending a special dance school, leaving her with little time for baby-sitting, anyway. From there on, the rest of the group began to grow apart. After graduation, they'd all spread out across the country, and now Kristy didn't even know where half of her former best friends were.  
  
Pushing the BSC out of her mind, Kristy forced herself to pay attention to her mother's conversation.   
  
"Watson, she's fifteen, she's probably out with friends." Dread filled Kristy's stomach. Watson was probably calling about his daughter, Karen. Even though their parents had been divorced for two years, Kristy still considered Karen her little sister. Soon after the divorce, Karen had begun hanging out with a group Kristy didn't approve of, but couldn't do much about. Kristy hoped it was nothing serious.  
  
"Hold on, here she is." Elizabeth said, handing Kristy the phone. "Watson needs to talk to you, honey. It's important." Kristy took the phone from her mother. Even though she and Watson had done some arguing in the past, Kristy had no arguments against her step-father, and was anxious to talk to him about her sister.  
  
"Hello?" She asked, hurriedly and worriedly.  
  
"Kristy, sweetie, it's Watson. You haven't heard from Karen lately, have you?" he asked, fatherly panic in his voice.  
  
"No, I haven't, I'm sorry. She's missing?" Kristy's heart pounded furiously in her chest, causing her blood to rush through her body. This wasn't the first time Karen had pulled something like this, but that didn't make it any easier.  
  
"I'm afraid so. Listen, I don't know where she could be, but you still talk to some of her friends. Maybe Dave's seen her, or one of the other kids. Just keep an eye out, and give me a call if you hear from her or someone else." Kristy's hands were shaking, but she told Watson she'd give him a call if she heard anything. Her fears were the same as always, though. She was terrified she wouldn't hear anything until it was too late to change it.   
  
Hours later, Kristy was desperately trying to study for her child psychology class. Her mind just kept drifting back to Karen, probably wandering the streets alone, or worse. She needed to talk to someone, and soon. Leaning across her bed, she dialed the number of her boyfriend, Alan Gray. He'd finally matured, and after a few dates, he'd convinced he was actually an ok guy. The phone rang four times before she finally heard his answering machine, and Kristy hung up without leaving a message, frustrated.  
  
Slowly, she exhaled the breath she'd been holding. She didn't want to talk to just anybody. What she really needed was a friend, a friend who knew both her and Karen well. Preferably one who could sit and listen to her. Reaching under her bed, Kristy pulled out her address book, and dialed Mary Anne's number in New York.  
  



	2. Nothing Beats Old Friends

  
  
  
"You know Karen, she's probably just off with her friends." Mary Anne said, comfortingly. Her familiar voice had calmed Kristy, but it wasn't easing her mind.  
  
"That's what I'm afraid of. You know those kids she hangs out with, Mary Anne. She's probably off smoking pot or sleeping around or something. What went wrong, Mary Anne?" Kristy sighed and leaned back against her bed.   
  
"I don't know, Kris. For a while she seemed to be adjusting to the divorce, and then, I guess we just lost her." On her side of the phone, Mary Anne was seated at her desk, her text books open in front of her. She was in her junior year at Hunter College, and had finally declared elementary education as her major. It had taken over a year for her to truly adjust to college. Mary Anne had always been shy and quiet, and adjusting to living in a dorm with three other girls had taken some getting used to. Once she'd begun to adjust, though, Mary Anne had decided college life suited her completely.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Mary Anne. I really just needed to hear something reassuring tonight." Kristy stood up and walked across the room, and started searching for the giant t-shirt she normally wore to bed. She really hated living at home while everyone else had gone away to college, but being with her mother during the divorce had seemed the right thing to do at the time. Plus it was nice to be there when Dave, or Karen, or Karen's brother Andrew, needed her. By the time a few years had gone by, Kristy was so comfortable at the University of Connecticut she no longer had a desire to transfer.  
  
"I know, and you know I'll always be here. It does make me long for the days when I could just pull up my blind and flash my problems to you with my flashlight." Mary Anne thought longingly to the code cleverly designed by Kristy, back before Mary Anne was allowed to talk on the phone in the evenings.  
  
"Yeah, those were the days. Except for those outfits. What were we thinking?" The two of them giggled, and Kristy was glad she'd called her friend. "So what do you hear from Dawn these days?" Kristy asked. Dawn was Mary Anne's other best friend, and stepsister, who'd been living in California since the end of their eighth-grade year.  
  
"She and UCLA were made for each other. She's majoring in film production, c you believe that?" Glancing at the clock, Mary Anne knew she should hurry the conversation along, but it wasn't that often she got to hear from Kristy, and she refused to rush it.  
  
"Little Miss Hug-the-Earth is doing films? You mean nature documentaries, right?" Kristy turned off the light next to her bed, but didn't even pull down her sheets. She just lay on top of her bed, listening to her best friend's voice.  
  
"Nope, real true dramatics. She's doing pretty good, it seems. In fact, she's already starting on her senior project, and it's not due until next spring!"  
  
"Her senior project? But she's only a junior! I guess she finally learned procrastination is not the way to get out of college." Kristy joked.   
  
They talked for about ten more minutes, when Kristy finally sighed.  
  
"I guess I should let you go." she said, sadly. She really missed Mary Anne, and resented the whole crowd for leaving.  
  
"Yeah, I hate to, but my first class is an eight o'clock. Tell you what, I'll call you this weekend." Mary Anne said, finally turning off the lights and shutting her book. She could study more tomorrow before class started.  
  
"OK, I'll talk to you then. And thanks, Mary Anne. I really needed this." Kristy stood up and walked to her window, willing Mary Anne to appear in the one next to hers.   
  
"Hey, no problem. Don't worry about Karen. She'll be fine. She's only fifteen, but she's tough."  
  
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of."  
  
  



	3. Fear Sets In

  
  
It had been twenty-four hours, and Karen was still missing. The only bright spot Kristy could find was that now Watson could legally declare her as missing. Kristy grew even more worried as the hours ticked by with no message on her pager, and finally she went home, cutting her last class of the day.  
  
"Kristy!" Her mother said in surprise. "What are you doing home already? Shouldn't you be in statistics right now?" Kristy had to admit, she was a little surprised herself. She certainly hadn't expected to find her mother at home. Normally her Mom was working till six, and either she or Dave took care of their little sister Emily when she got home from school. Today, however, Elizabeth was seated on the loveseat, coffee mug in hand.  
  
"Yeah, but it was some sadistic person who decided to put math classes in the middle of the afternoon anyway. Shouldn't you be at work right now?" she countered, tossing her books on the sofa.  
  
"I'm probably home for the same reason you are." Standing, Elizabeth walked over to Kristy and gave her a tight hug.  
  
"Watson hasn't heard anything yet?" Kristy's dark brown eyes looked fearful.  
  
"No, Kristy, I'm sorry. He's called the police, and they're keeping a watch out for her. He's also checked with the parents of all her friends. There's not much more we can do except sit and wait." Squeezing her shoulders, Elizabeth stood up. "I think I'm going to go over there and see if I can help. Karen's mom, Lisa, is probably panicked, and her stepfather and Watson are both out at the police." Her mom walked across the room to grab her purse and her jacket.  
  
"Hold on, I'll come with you." Kristy jumped up and grabbed her own purse. "Maybe Andrew needs me." She thought sadly of the little blond who was so dependent on his older sister. After the first divorce their parents went through, Andrew withdrew, and followed Karen everywhere. Now that Watson was divorced again, Karen was the one who had distanced herself, and Andrew wasn't quite sure what to do.  
  
"I think your other brother and sister might need you right now." Her mother pointed out. Kristy slowly put her purse down and nodded.   
  
"That's true. I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking." Sitting on the loveseat where her mother had sat, Kristy got settled to wait for Dave and Emily to come home. Dave would be the first, since the high school got out an hour earlier than the elementary school, and Stoneybrook Middle got out last. She curled up with her statistics book and tried to make up for missing the class.   
  



	4. Coming Home

  
  
Mallory Pike was home for the first weekend since she'd left for college. She'd finally chosen Northwestern for their excellent writing program, and now she simply had to decide between creative writing and journalism. As much as she missed home, Chicago's big city life was appealing to her, and now she really enjoyed it there.  
  
Sitting on the edge of her sister's bed, Mallory looked around the room that at one time had been hers. She and Vanessa had shared this room less than a year ago. Now, when she was home, her parents had her sleeping on a couch in the rec room. Sixteen year old Vanessa had the room to herself now, and had completely remodeled. The corner where Mallory's books had been now contained notebooks full of Vanessa's poems. Mallory's bed was gone, and a state of the art entertainment center that Vanessa had bought herself now sat in its place. The Pikes weren't rich by any means, and once the kids hit sixteen, they had to get jobs and make their own money. So far, none of them had a problem with it, but Nick was next, so they'd see.  
  
Suddenly, Vanessa walked into the room and stopped in surprise.  
  
"Mal! You're home!" Vanessa cried, and hugged her sister tightly. Mallory smiled and stepped back, holding her sister at arm's length.  
  
"Oh, good, I'm so glad to see you've barely changed. Except your hair! What did you do to your hair?" Vanessa laughed and tossed her newly highlighted and cropped mane. It used to be long and fluffy and brown. Now it was sleek and straight, with blond streaks through it and fell only to the tops of her shoulders.   
  
"I wanted a change. Do you like it?" Mallory ran a finger through the new style, and nodded slowly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I do. At least you didn't do anything stupid, like when I dyed my hair bleach blond when we were in California." Vanessa dropped her mouth open in shock.   
  
"You did?" They both started giggling as Mallory walked to the hall closet and pulled out a photo album. Flipping through her memories, Mallory finally found the pictures of her and the rest of the BSC in California. While Vanessa stared at it and laughed, Mallory got suddenly nostalgic. She'd been in sixth grade then with Jessi, while the others had been in eighth. She hadn't seen her best friend since their high school graduation six months before. Jessi had gone to a prestigious ballet school for the summer. They'd kept in touch with letters, e-mail, and calls, but that's all. The other girls she'd barely seen in the last two years since they left Stoneybrook. Occasionally she'd seen Kristy around town, and that was the extent.   
  
"Mal? Have you even been listening?" Mallory glanced up startled.   
  
"What?"   
  
"Mallory, you haven't heard the first word I've said, have you?" Mallory smiled at her younger sister. Time certainly had made her sassy.   
  
"I'm sorry, sweetie, I got distracted. What were you talking about?"   
  
"I was saying since you were staring at Kristy so hard, you should probably know that Karen Brewer dropped out of school." Mallory looked up in shock.  
  
"She did? When?" Mallory was suddenly interested. It had been a long time since she'd seen Karen, and her parents had just divorced. She hadn't been handling it well back then.  
  
"A couple of days ago. She came in, withdrew, and walked out. No one's seen her since." She was startled by this fact. Karen had always been a bright, happy little girl. She'd even skipped a grade when Kristy had first met her. The fact that she'd dropped out of school showed that things had hit rock bottom.  
  
"What do her parents think?" She asked Vanessa, trying not to sound as panicked as she felt.  
  
"No one knows, like I said, no one's seen her. I would think they're worried sick." Vanessa said quietly, leaning against the wall.  
  
"No one as in not even her family?" Vanessa nodded, and Mallory ran for the phone to dial Kristy's number.  
  



End file.
